


I'm not a fool

by Lunática (Howl2me)



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-20 20:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21287612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howl2me/pseuds/Lun%C3%A1tica
Summary: It's a lovely Saturday afternoon at Hera and Zeus' garden. However, the King of the Underworld has some concerns regarding his future with his fiancé.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 51





	I'm not a fool

I talk with Hebe about the tea at the party. She doesn't really fancy it, she says it's rather bland. I can't really blame her for knowing exactly how she likes things. She is a good mix of her parents, I guess. Hera looks at us from a distance, talking to Hephaestus. She sees me and smiles fondly. In my mind, I briefly think about how she had a major role in my current circumstances and smile back at her.

However, I can't shake out of my mind the fact that she orchestrated all of this for me. Well, more specifically, for Hades and me. I did not like all these twists and turns of the political affairs, but, apparently, after our engagement, it was necessary to consolidate our _couple status_ as an _official_ one, so there would not be any weird rumours. "To stay ahead of the curb," she had said. That involved being seen in public, in a lighthearted semi-official event, such as an informal reunion at the garden of the Queen of Olympus. Nevermind Fatesbook status...

The sudden gasp of Hebe brings me back from my short dreaminess, and her expression of sheer happiness makes me look in the direction that caught her attention. Hades makes his way through the guests that are scattered all over Hera and Zeus' garden, which is filled with hundreds of beautiful flowers and fruit trees, from all kinds. I've always felt a bit like a teenager here, closer to my mother when I'm not in the mortal realm. The orangey light makes his white hair shine with a warm hue that softens his sharp blue frame. I feel my heart swelling with a familiar sensation as I look at my fiancé approaching us. Again, I can't blame Hebe for choosing him as her favourite uncle, especially as he finally focuses his eyes on us and gives us the widest of smiles, the one that creates a ton of wrinkles around his eyes. I swear I could melt on the spot whenever he does that.

"Uncle!" Hebe runs off to him and jumps into his arms, already open and waiting for the little excited goddess.

"How's my favourite niece today? Are you liking the gathering?," asks Hades after hugging Hebe for a while and putting her back down, crouching to her level.

"Well, as I was saying to Persephone, I believe the tea selection could be better, but what can one do when no one listens to the voice of reason in that matter?" She shrugs, emphasising the nonsense of the situation.

"Oh, I see... Then I promise I will look for the finest blend when I come visit you next time. How's that?"

"Wonderful." I can honestly see stars in her eyes and can't avoid smiling at her delight.

"About time, I thought you would end up not coming..." Hera had approached us and put a hand on Hades shoulder. Her face does not show a bit of the accusation her words suggest, but rather welcome her brother-in-law with affection.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry," he apologises as he stands up again, looking at both, Hera and I. "There was a bit of chaos, and Hecate needed the extra help."

"Ah, same old, then... She is not coming, is she?"

"I'm afraid she is not very fond of these... assemblies." He smiles apologetically.

"Well, I'll try to cater to her tastes next time, then." Hera gives us a feline smile and looks down to Hebe. "Honey, Ares brought a present for you, would you like to see it?"

"Yes!" She jumps with excitement and then addresses to Hades and I. "Sorry, I must go see my brother now. Uncle Hades, will you play with me later?"

"Of course." Hades smiles and pets Hebe's head very gently.

"See you in a bit," says Hera, taking her daughter with her.

I hear him sigh softly and I turn to look at him with a smile that who knows for how long has been on my face. "Is everything alright?"

Hades finally centres his whole attention on me, and I kind of blame myself a little for wanting all of him all of the time. He gives me those eyes that distill pure unadulterated fondness with the eye-wrinkling smile and I feel the flutter in my gut, as always.

"Yes, nothing serious, you know us, we panic over everything at work." His hand caresses my cheek and I can't help getting on my toes and leaning on him until he tilts his head and gives me a warm peck on the lips.

"Are you having fun? Hebe can be quite determined sometimes..." He keeps stroking my face with his enormous and loving hand, and I notice a hint of something that resembles concern or melancholy in his gaze.

"Yeah, she is lovely, and sure takes after her parents. I loved driving here too, without you worrying by my side." I let out a giggle, hoping to cheer him up, but with little to no results. He mirrors my laugh, but the concern in his eyes remains. "Hades, is really everything OK? You seem a little troubled." I catch his hand under my jaw and squeeze it between mine.

He lets out another sigh with a resigned little chuckle. "You really see through me, don't you?"

I keep staring at him, now convinced that he needs to let out what's bothering him, so I wait for him to start talking again while I caress his hand.

"I just..." He looks around us, and I'm suddenly aware that we are indeed in the middle of a party, and that some of the guests are looking at us trying to be sneaky. "Would you come with me for a walk?" I immediately nod, he laces his hand with mine, and we start to stroll away from the crowd following a path into the luscious garden.

Hades finally stops at a bench after a few minutes walking in silence. I sit beside him and take in the view: a bed of peonies and hydrangeas give way to some white lilacs and orange trees in blossom in the distance. Hera sure knows what she is doing.

I wait patiently until he starts talking again.

"When I saw you playing and talking with Hebe..." He looks at me with intent, but I cannot grasp what he is trying to imply. "I suddenly... I started to think, what if..." He pauses and stares at my face with intensity, and I start to fathom what he's hinting at. "It's not like it's the first time that this crosses my mind. Of course I've thought about it. But, Persephone, I don't think we've actually talked... discussed about this matter." I realise that I'm holding my breath, waiting for him to finish. "Would you... Have you ever... thought about... having children?" I sense an omission in his words, as well as a lump in his throat, but I don't comment on that.

"I guess so... I am a fertility goddess after all." My heart pounds a bit too heavily in my chest, and I am not sure if it's excitement or worry. "Why are you asking all of a sudden?" An unsettling feeling creeps up my spine when the possibility of him not wanting to have them with me hits. "You don't?"

It seems to be an eternity between my question, his lip-biting and his next sentence.

"I have thought about it a lot, actually." An unknown knot loosens a bit in my stomach. "And I am not sure if I want any." The knot tightens again and something heavy plummets to the depths of my guts.

In fact, I had not given that much thought to this before... The idea was in the back of my mind when we were going out at first, certainly. Then, when he proposed, I kind of assumed that it would end up happening, like it was the logical path for us. I could not compute a relationship between us where we did not give us to each other completely, with everything that it entailed. The unexpected image of a little blue kid running around and giggling with Cerberus struck my heart like a punch, and the worry intensified a little more.

"We don't have to have any, you know?" I try to smile at him. His concern is oozing from him, and I can almost touch his agitation. We can work this out. If I think about it, all I really want is to be with him, I don't need anything else. "If that's what worries you... It's OK, I just want to be with you. That is all I want." I rub his arm, trying to comfort him.

"It's not exactly that." He grimaces and looks down, avoiding my eyes. I really don't like where this is going. He takes a deep breath. "When I think of having a kid with you..." he looks back at me with adoration and I don't know what to do with it. "Gods, I could not think of something better... It would mean creating something beautiful with the one that gave my life meaning." He cups my face with both hands and I can feel the tears building up in my eyes. Why is it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? "Me, creating life... it's almost absurd. And with you... I think I could die of happiness."

I wallow for a second in that fantasy, now more tangible than ever, and I think I can feel the same joy that I see reflected on his face. I take in a shaky breath and then I get lost in his instant change of expression, from blissful to somber.

"However, I'm not a fool." He sounds incredibly bitter, with a strangled low voice, and I feel like I am drinking up his words. "I am my father's son after all."

There it is. That dreadful shadow that has been following him all these centuries. The monster that sometimes wakes him up at night, that marked him with his hatred and cruelty inside and out. I would kill him with my own hands if he wasn't already rotting in Tartarus.

"What if..." The shakiness of his voice brings me back from the streak of revulsion and pulls at my heartstrings, his eyes are also wet. "What if I end up being like him, Persephone? What if, no matter how much I try, that part of him inside of me comes out, and I... I hurt them? Or you?!" I feel his hands squeezing my cheeks a bit harder in panic, and my chest starts to hurt with a sharpness that I immediately detest. Has he been feeling like this all the time? "Or- or what if they become like him...?" A lonely tear crosses his mortified expression, and I cannot stand his pain anymore. "I can't do that, Persephone, I cannot bring him back."

Somehow, I gasp in a gulp of fresh air, that carries the scents of the flowers around us, and I get the strength to prop myself up on my knees, on the bench, and hug him as hard as I can. How, how does he not see how caring and wonderful he is... "My love..." I can feel his whole body jerking as he starts to silently cry with violence on my shoulder, and I notice that my tears are flowing uncontrollably too. It takes a few seconds until he wraps his large arms around me and lets go completely.

I soothe him for a bit, until his body stops shaking so furiously, and I move to look straight at him. "Aidoneus, you are not him. You are not like him, and you will never be. It simply cannot happen." He stares at me, sniffing, while I take his pink pocket square and start wiping his face carefully. "I know I haven't really met him, and I can only speak from what I know... But, Hades, you could not hurt me, ever. And I'm sure you could never hurt Hera or Hebe either, right?"

He nods in agreement, even though his sadness is still palpable. "I love you, Hades. I know you. And you know me. I trust you with my life, and I would trust you with the life of my beloved ones too. I can feel it in my heart." I take one of his hands and bring it to my chest, crushing it against my skin with all my might. "I know it's not easy for you to believe the ones who tell you that you are not like him, but, what if... what if you let me show you, then. I already know that I will be the happiest goddess by your side, I already am." Now he truly looks dumbfounded by my words, and I recall briefly how hard it was for him to be convinced of my feelings for him. "Let me be your companion, Hades, and I will show you just how good you are to the ones around you... Let me show you how loving and caring you are..."

"Sweetness... I have done so many awful things." He hugs me again with strength and desperation, and speaks looking at me straight in the eye. "Please, promise me, Persephone. Promise me that it won't happen... Don't let me ruin this, I can't make you miserable."

"Hades, I can't do that." His pure agony makes me bleed inside. "I don't know what will happen. But please, trust me when I say that I believe in you, my love, I know you can only be capable of taking care of me, I just feel it in my bones. You. Are. Not. Him. And whoever says different, just doesn't know you at all. We will make this work together. I can promise you that much. I am not giving up on you. Ever." _You will be free of him, I swear_, I think to myself. I clutch the handkerchief and his shoulders as if my life depends on that. I know I can't let his fears win this, he doesn't deserve it. I am sure of my words, so I look deep into his eyes trying to convey my confidence in us.

He brings his hand to my face again, and this time he wipes my tears away. "What have I done to deserve you... I can't let you sacrifice your desire of having descendants for my sake... I could never forgive myself, and I know you would resent me."

"No, Hades." And this time I feel so much more at peace, calm. "Honestly, I don't care about that. I almost panicked because I thought you had doubts about me as a mother or a wife..."

"I would never-"

"But I can't imagine being beside someone else... I would not even think of having kids if I wasn't going to marry you. That is enough for me. Whatever comes, will be welcomed, and loved. And if it's not like that, then I will keep being the happiest goddess in the universe. If you still want me."

"Of course I do, Sweetness. I'm so sorry I made you worry... I feel stupid." He gives me a more serene and genuine smile. I feel like the pressure in my chest diminishes with his peace of mind.

"You're not. You were deeply hurt, Hades. I understand where this comes from, trust me. You know I've had my issues too..."

"I know, Sweetness." His face shifts for one second and turns hard with rage that disappears as fast as it came.

"I can tell you that it's easier for me to deal with each day thanks to you... Will you let me do the same for you?"

He smiles again, with a bittersweet note, and a few more tears escape from his eyes while he looks at me as if I'm the only thing keeping him grounded in this moment. He is doing exactly the same for me. He takes both his hands and holds my head caringly. I feel his thumbs rubbing my flustered cheeks, and then he brings my face forward to kiss me on my forehead and my nose very lightly. He stays really close and speaks again.

"Persephone, you already do that just by existing and letting me be a part of your life." He ends with a whisper that tugs at my heart, and I feel flooded with a rush of love for him. We will get pass this, I know it.

"Ditto."

He lets out a short and silent chuckle and brushes his lips against mine extremely gently. "I love you so much," he whispers over my mouth.

I feel the usual tingling in my gut and chest and can't help a smile. "I love you too," I whisper as well, because I don't want to break the spell.

He kisses me very softly and then deeply, slowly, and I kiss him back the same way, like we are just enjoying the fact that we are there for the other.

A voice in the middle distance gives me goose-bumps all over my back and makes me look in that direction. "Hey, lovebirds! You know you can't escape, right? Come out and humour my wife, please!"

Hades looks at me with an annoyed look, despising his brother for bursting our bubble. I thank Hades' decision of sitting down among the trees and bushes that make for the perfect hiding place.

"Looks like someone needs us," I say, as I stand up and fix his wet cheeks and the creases that I made at the shoulders of his jacket.

He does the same for me, and kisses me again on the cheek, lingering a bit, before standing up.

"We can take our time if you want, though."

He takes my hand without hesitation, gives me his sweetest smile and tells me, "It's OK, we'll be fine."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello :)
> 
> This is my first Lore Olympus fic, and the first time I write and post anything in English. Please bear in mind that it's not my first language, so spare me T_T
> 
> Also, any comments on improvement or wrong/strange grammar, etc, are welcome.
> 
> Thank you for reading :D
> 
> **Funny side note: while searching on Google to write the fic, I stumbled upon this: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=74400 Did anyone know this existed???


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